Rating: 
Summary: Best in its genre
Review: If you've been turned off by Christians but are attracted to the person of Jesus Christ, this is the ONE book to read
Rating:
Summary: Read it!
Review: I read this book and asked myself, "If I was alive at that time would I have followed Him?". Then I wondered, "Am I really following Him now?". How could years of familiarity to allow me to be comfortable with the beatitudes? Yancey reveals Jesus through solid scholarship but doesn't bury Him in it. I believe many of us who claim to be Christians have built a relationship with a Jesus who resembles our vision of a hero and not the radical, impassioned Jew described in the Gospels. I bought copies for my brother, dad and a friend. I have rated no other book as a 10
Rating:
Summary: A sensitive introduction to the Savior
Review: Yancey tears down the veil that hundreds of years of church doctrine have erected between the searching Christian and the Savior. Yancey shows the reader that the images that we have been offered are often contrary to the clear picture of Jesus found in the Gospels
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Summary: Jesus Christ: superstar, preacher, or hero of social justice
Review: Andrew Lloyd Webber cast him as a rock-n-roll rebel in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, many Christians see him as a handsome European-looking man, and social justice groups place him next to Ghandi in his defense of the downtrodden. But, says Philip Yancey, the real Jesus would have left most people scratching their heads along with the disciples and asking, "Who is this guy?"
This is exactly the question Yancey asks in his book THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW. Yancey's search for the real Jesus collides with the calm, cool, collected, and "loving hippie" notions of Jesus he saw in modern American culture. Instead, he finds a Galilean Jew born into apparent scandal making the most daring of claims: that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Light.
THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW developed out of a class Yancey led at LaSalle Street Church in Chicago, but finding the real Jesus has been Yancey's passion since childhood.
Yancey saw Him as a cardboard cut-out in Sunday School and a "cosmic Christ" in Bible college. Today he sees a world that marks its calendar around Jesus' birth and uses His name to intensify a curse. (Wouldn't it be odd to center a calendar around Napoleon's birth or to scream "Thomas Jefferson" in a shocking situation?)
"And yet," says Yancey, "I am not writing a book about Jesus because he is a great man who changed history. I am not tempted to write about Julius Caesar or the Chinese emperor who built the great wall. I am drawn to Jesus, irresistibly, because he has positioned himself at the dividing point of life-my life."
THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW looks at who Jesus was, why he came, and what he left behind. More than historical speculation or doctrinal recitation, Yancey asks the questions out of a personal desire to truly know Jesus
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Summary: One of the best books on Jesus - less the Bible.
Review: I don't think anyone could have written this book but Philip Yancey! When I read this book, I felt as if I were on a journey; into an intimacy with Christ. As Christians tend to do, we STUDY the Bible.. But Mr Yancey reminds us that Christianity is not a college course, but a way of living.
We need to know Christ, not about Christ. And through this book, your eyes will open and see Him as the Friend, the Counselour, and the Man He is and ever shall be.
Debra Stout, Servant
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Summary: Book of the Year Award
Review: THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW is the winner of the 1996 Gold Medallion Christian Book of the Year
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Summary: Yancey's book gets us closer to the real Jesus.
Review: Yancey goes into the intimate details of who Jesus really was and was not and what he really was like as a human during his time on Earth. He goes to great lengths to dispell the myths about him so that we may be better in touch with Jesus. Of course Yancey, like everyone else has to take his best guess at what Jesus was really like, but I am finding that he is quite convincing. As I read the book, I feel Jesus' presence in my heart - I feel like I am getting to know him much better. There are also a lot of interesting things about Jesus that I never knew such as when he took up a whip to remove petty street sellers from a church or synagog (if this is in the Bible, I have not yet read that). In Yancey's book, we get to see all sides of Jesus - not just what Sunday School teaches. While some of it may break our bubble about Jesus in some ways, I think we come away knowing him in a way not before possible. Yancey clearly is not trying to discount or make Jesus to be anything less than he was/is - he's just trying to get closer to the truth..
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reading
Review: This book is thought-provoking and beautifully written. It will keep you engaged throughout.Yancey makes no bones about the fact that he's Christian and has a Christian perspective. This book is not about currently-popular-but-difficult-to-prove-historically notions about Jesus (like: he had a wife, he had a child, etc.). This book is about getting to know Jesus more intimately by understanding his background, his Jewishness, his world. Yancey is a superb writer, and brings up many ideas rarely discussed in the Christian world. I think every Christian will learn something from this book, and non-Christians can come closer to understanding who the Christ of Christianity is.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book That I Have Ever Read
Review: This is the best book that I have ever read in my life. Period. A truly, phenomenal effort. The book is so well-written that it almost reads itself. One critic called it the best book written about Jesus in the 20th Century. Probably true. An agnostic that I know called it an impartial examination into the person Jesus.
I'll be honest, I haven't liked all of Yancey's books. A few of his books have seemed forced, whereas a few others are well written. As for this book, it is so far above anything Yancey (or anybody else, for that matter) has written. Read it and pass it on. I have lended my copy to so many people that I have had to buy extra copies.
This book makes you feel good about being a Christian. Plain and simple.
Rating:
Summary: A good book - but not Yancey's best
Review: But I still rate it at 5 stars. I see a progression of thought in Yancey's works from "The Jesus I never Knew" to his later work "What's so amazing about Grace." If you only have time to read one Yancey book, I'd recommend "What's so amazing about Grace" high above this book. "The Jeus I never knew" is full of anecdotes and great quotes and interesting stories. It's also filled with thoughtful insights that make you go "Wow, I never thought of that Bible verse in that light before." For that reason, I give it five stars. Any book that gives you a deeper love of God (as this book does) is surely worth five stars. But his more recent book "What's So Amazing About Grace" seems like it plumbs the depth of spirituality a bit more. Kind of like the comparison of Mark's Gospel and John's Gospel. Mark's writings are strong and clear, but John's message is so deeply metaphysical you fear you may never glean all the spiritual nuggets contained therein. Not to irreverantly compare Yancey to John..., but Yancey's books are always a joy to read. I just preferred "What's so Amazing About Grace." However, after borrowing and reading "The Jesus I Never Knew" I immediately bought my own copy. It is a good foundational item for every Christian's bookshelf.
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